Song Review:: Chanyeol (EXO): Black Out- Black Out {Debut}

• Release date: 2024 August 28

• Album tracklist: Black Out, Hasta La Vista, Ease Up, Back Again, I'm on your side too, Clover

• Album runtime: 18 minutes

 I have a number of songs by EXO that I like, a number which is growing, as expected. I'd love to say I can differentiate any of their voices, but I can't. Not yet, anyway. I suspect I'll be able to when I sit down and spend time learning them. But I know EXO also has a reputation for having stellar voices.

I maintain that debuts are meant to say who a group, or an artist, is and what they're about. EXO has had a lot of strong songs over the twelve years they've been around, so I'd guess that Chanyeol would be used to that style and could have gone in that direction for his solo debut. He didn't. He went for a chummier sound, like hanging out with a friend at night and going for a drive because someone needed it. Now, I dig the instrumentals. They're head boppy. I picked up on the drum rhythm pretty quickly, and they don't change all that much through the song. Most of the time, I think they're divided into triplets. But they're also the reason for the head boppy characteristics of the song. There's just not a lot of drive to the song, which is ironic considering that this feels like a song you would listen to to go driving with.

Chanyeol has a voice like a warm hug or a cup of hot chocolate. I don't know what he's saying. But it doesn't matter because you just kind of forget your problems while you're listening to him. He's got a nice...it's almost a rasp. It's not a true rasp, but it's something akin to it. Even when he's singing higher notes, you can tell he's got a lower tone to his voice. He feels settled into his skin, which is probably a good thing considering he's a twelve-year idol. 

There is a loneliness and a wistfulness to this music video. The fact that it's filmed predominately at night and has hard lighting reinforces the message of the lyrics. There's a particular shot at 1:45 that I really like. Buckle up, because the temporary film major is about to come out to play. The foreground is all warmly lit and inviting, but the background, where Chanyeol is sitting on the ground, almost hidden in the frame, is lit by blue and orange. Note that they're complimentary colors, which draws the eye and also invokes a sense of tension. Not only do the complimentary colors draw the eye, but because of the angles and perspective, you're naturally going to look to the middle of the shot, as well as up, because of the leading trail of lights, which makes you look away from Chanyeol. His positioning is in the liminal space between warmth of the camera and the viewer, and the cool toned background, absent of other people. Now, why am I fixated on that single shot? I have no clue. But I do think this is fascinating. Someone else should do a full analysis of the music video. Not me. But someone should.